This table lists all those inns mentioned in four comprehensive directories
of services into London from provincial towns of England & Wales.

1637; Carriers Cosmologie
1681; The Present State of London
1691; The Present State of London
1738 The Intelligencer or Merchant's Assistant

The first and last record of the Inn as a terminus in these publications is
shown. The Main Road served by the carrier or coach is categorised by the
routes describd by Ogilby in 1675 (A to M in order published by Ogilby).

The total number of services per week using the inn in all four publications
is shown. Duplicate entries to places on the same road have been removed and
those services running on several days have been made as the appropriate number
of multiple service entries.

The number of coach and carrier services are distinguished and the
percentage of the total number of services that are carriers services is given.

Changes in the Inns used by carriers and coaches to London

The area where the inns have traditionally served carriers are Holbourn in
the west, West Smithfield in the north, Bishopsgate in the east and Southwark,
south of the river. Between 1637 and 1681, there was an irreversible loss of
inns serving carriers in the central area, particularly Cat-Eaton Street,
Cheapside, Coleman Street & Lombard Street where inns ceased to serve
carriers. In other central locations such as Bread Street and Leadenhall street
there was a decline in the inns used by carriers. About a third of the inns
mentioned in 1637 were not mentioned 50 years later whereas only another 9%
were lost in the following 50 years to 1738.

In the late 1600s the areas acquiring most new inns serving carriers were
Aldersgate Street, Holborn, St John's Street and The Strand. Charing Cross, The
Strand and Warwick Street, all in the west, were areas where new inns began to
serve carrier services. Steady expansion of the existing areas such as Aldgate
& Bishopsgate in the east and Southwark in the south occurred in this
period.

Almost half the inns serving carriers in 1738 had been terminals for carrier
services a century earlier. The number of new inns recruited into this service
seems to have been fairly constant over the century. Of the 78 Inns Listed in
1637, 25 did not appear again and are assumed to have been lost including
George, Bread Street; Star, Bread Street; St Paul's Head, Carter Lane;
Maidenhead, CatEaton Street; Queen's Arms, Holbourn.

Inns serving particular services

Inns serving travellers from the east, around Bishopsgate and north, around
Aldersgate, and the south in Southwark, served a mixture of carriers and coach
services. In the west there was more polarisation of services with many inns in
Holbourn, The Strand, Fleet Street and Charing Cross serving only coach
services whereas inns in West Smithfield, Warwick Lane and Wood street served
only carriers.

The inns hosting the largest number of services are listed below according
to area. Those with more than 8 coach services are emboldened; this highlights
the high proportion of the services entering the eastern part of the city and
the relatively small number of services entering the north.

A few of the larger inns in the centre of the city had sufficient space to
expand to deal with the increasing demands of the coaching and carrier
services. The Bell Savage on Ludgate Hill for instance continued to be the
terminus for services throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. However,
other centrally located inns had neither space nor the ease of access needed to
satisfy the carriers and coachmen. The development of inns, particularly to the
north and west of the city, must have reflected in part the increasing
requirements for space to accommodate goods, services and passengers.

The large coaching inns that dominated the provision of services in the 19th
century were still to emerge as leading centres in the early 18th century. The
Bolt & Tun in Fleet Street, Swan with Two Necks in Lad Lane and Bull &
Mouth in Aldersgate were used by a small number of carriers and coaches but
were not amongst the most frequently used inns in their areas. The Inns in
Piccadilly such as the White Bear and The White Horse Coffee House or the
Elephant & Castle, south of the river, were not mentioned in the early 18th
century.